Carbon emissions from tropical forest loss underestimated
Kuala Lumpur, October 31 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The amount of planet-warming carbon emitted by the world's lost tropical forests has been under- reported as estimates failed to take into account the longerterm effects of tree destruction, researchers said.
A new international study re- evaluated the carbon impacts of forests that were destroyed or degraded between 2000 and 2013, adding up to 49 million hectares ( 121 million acres), roughly the size of Spain.
The carbon released from losses to those “intact forests” will amount to more than six times previous esti mates when additional emissions caused by changes to the forest up to 2050 are included, it found.
Intact forests are large areas of continuous forest with no signs of intensive human activity, like agriculture or logging.
“Once you've caused the initial round of damage, you have committed to a lot of further emissions in the future once the forest has opened up,” said study co-author Tom Evans of the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
“It's a bit like if you're injured at work you have lost earnings for years into the future,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “Those carbon lost earnings turn out to be the biggest part of the picture for these intact forests.” Trees suck carbon dioxide from the air, and store carbon, the main greenhouse gas heating up the Earth's climate. But they release it when they are cut down and are burned or rot.
Environmentalists say protecting existing forests and restoring damaged ones prevents flooding, limits climate change and protects biodiversity.